Ozzy Osbourne - Singer - Musician - Songwriter

(Credits: Far Out / Sony Music Entertainment)

Sun 3 August 2025 17:00, UK

One of Ozzy Osbourne‘s favourite guitarists ever was, of course, Tony Iommi. But there was another who charmed him, one with immense musical know-how who knew how to be patient around the Prince of Darkness.

For many reasons, some more obvious than others, Osbourne was the star of his own show. A name that truly lived up to the whole “needs no introduction” cliché, Osbourne stole the limelight even when he was the only quiet one in the room. His reputation and history curled around the atmosphere like a thick cloud of smoke, like he really didn’t need to do anything other than just be there, and everybody would feel the magic in the room.

But all that comes with also touching countless corners of the industry and working with big names over several decades, collecting musical comrades both in his band and outside of it and enlisting coveted players from Steve Vai to Zakk Wylde. But one who indeniably changed the course of everything Osbourne was venturing towards post-Black Sabbath was Randy Rhoads.

Before his unfortunate passing in 1983, Rhoads helped pick Osbourne’s solo career off the ground, bringing his knowledge of the classical guitar and classical music to Osbourne’s metal playground, helping to define the sound of his first solo endeavours: Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. During later reflections, Osbourne would label Rhoads as his favourite guitarist, the one who pushed him away from the brink of failure when he quite literally needed it the most.

However, it wasn’t just Rhoads’ intuition and intelligence that drove Osbourne forward and inspired him in the studio; it was also his ability to seamlessly navigate everything Osbourne was at that particular juncture, not just in terms of the specifics of his artistic vision but who he was as a person. We all know the main facets of Osbourne’s personality and reputation centred around being “the conductor of mayhem”, so anyone working in the studio alongside him at any point in his career needed some level of patience.

Even as young as he was, Rhoads understood this. He probably also knew just how much Osbourne needed a helping hand at that juncture, and authoritatively took the lead somewhat when it came to directing certain aspects of the projects, something that came a lot easier knowing that Osbourne actually trusted him to help establish him beyond the successes he achieved in Black Sabbath. But at this point, nothing was more respectable.

Tragically, Diary of a Madman was the last record Rhoads worked on. And after his passing, Osbourne made it clear just where he stood on the guitar-playing virtuoso. “Randy Rhoads was the best,” he said in a statement. “If I had to say which one of the guitar players you’d rather work with, who was the most musically trained, it was Randy, because he could write, he could read, he could play, he taught at his mother’s school, and he had patience with me. And he would work with me, as opposed to me having to work on top of what he put down.”

While Iommi was his favourite-ever guitarist for different reasons that aren’t too difficult to figure out, Rhoads came along at an important turning point, not just playing alongside Osbourne in the studio with effortless ease but knowing how to make him feel heard without falling victim to the temptations of simply appeasing the Prince of Darkness just because of the name. Rhoads might’ve been young, but he was the vital component that allowed Osbourne to flourish post-Sabbath.

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